Samir Duran
"Far greater power" Terran Confederacy? : Alpha Squadron? Confederate Resistance Forces (2500) United Earth Directorate (2500) Zerg Swarm (2500) |job=Ghost (?—2500) Confederate operative? Leader of Confederate Resistance Forces (2500) Special advisor to the UED (2500) Agent of Sarah Kerrigan (2500) Employer of Clandestine Mercenaries (2500) Servant in charge of hybrid project }} Samir Duran is a mysterious being, claiming to be millennia old and having had many names over that time. Few are aware of his true nature. Sarah Kerrigan was unaware of who or what he was until shortly before the Second Great War.2007-10-08. SC:L Metzen Interview - Lore Exclusive. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-10-08. Zeratul only became suspicious after personally meeting Duran at the end of the . None of his former Confederate Resistance Forces comrades would have believed the truth. Duran was active after the end of the Great War to the end of the Brood War. As a terran commando lieutenant, he joined the Confederate Resistance Forces, and subordinated the group to the UED Expeditionary Fleet. After attempting to sabotage the UED's efforts and assassinating UED Vice-Admiral Alexei Stukov,StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Patriot's Blood (in English). 1998. he reappeared as an infested terran serving Infested Kerrigan.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: To Chain the Beast (in English). 1998. He abandoned the zerg shortly before the end of the Brood War''StarCraft: Brood War.'' Vivendi Games. Mission: Omega (in English). 1998. and for a time oversaw some protoss-zerg hybrid experiments on a dark moon. Duran is knowledgeable about the zerg,Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Ruins of Tarsonis (in English). 1998. and protoss technology.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Drawing of the Web (in English). 1998. He speaks with a "liquid" accent and favors the C-10 rifle in combat. Biography Samir Duran claimed to be thirty-three years old during the .Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Confederate Warrior ]] Duran claimed to have served in Alpha Squadron before Arcturus Mengsk brought down the Terran Confederacy. Duran, sensing a shift in the power structure, assumed command of a small commando squad called the Confederate Resistance ForcesStarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: First Strike (in English). 1998. that was dedicated to striking at Mengsk and his new Terran Dominion. When the United Earth Directorate launched its first attack against the Dominion on Braxis, Duran had monitored the attack before offering his services to Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov. Stukov accepted, but only because both men had the same enemy. Even though Duran had the potential to be a valuable asset, Stukov was nonetheless suspicious.Duran: "Captain, I am Lieutenant Samir Duran of the Confederate Resistance Forces. I've been monitoring your attack against the Dominion, and I'd like to offer you my services and skills in return for amnesty." Stukov: "Intriguing. Lieutenant, you have absolutely no idea as to who we are or what we have come here to do. Why do you wish to side with us?" Duran: "Because my men and I have sworn to fight against the Dominion and its Emperor. Seeing as how your forces have been laying into this Dominion base, I figured we were on the same side." Stukov: "I see. How exactly do you propose to be of service to us, Lieutenant?" Duran: "Well, I possess intimate knowledge of the surrounding area. I can show you an alternate route that leads to the rear of the main Dominion base." Stukov: "Very well, Lieutenant. Consider yourself and your men the first colonial conscripts of the United Earth Directorate. Captain, see that the Lieutenant is given our full cooperation. We shall see if he's worth the effort." StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: First Strike (in English). 1998. This was not a deal that Admiral Gerard DuGalle approved at first glance, because in his eyes Duran was merely a "turncoat" to the Dominion.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Dylarian Shipyards (in English). 1998. The UED gained access to confidential Dominion information from Braxis. Duran used the information to plan an assassination attempt on Arcturus Mengsk, who was visiting Umoja at the time. He did not take part in the operation as he was required to journey to Dylar IV for the UED's attack on the Dylarian Shipyards. Instead, the failed assassination mission was led by Captain Angelina Emillian – Mengsk's former instructor.McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 1416-55083-6. Special Advisor to the UED The UED sought to steal Dominion battlecruisers dry-docked at the Dylarian Shipyards. During operational planning, Duran warned DuGalle that the Dominion could reinforce its outlying bases within sixteen hours. The stolen battlecruiser fleet was ready in time to defeat Dominion reinforcements led by General Edmund Duke. Duran accompanied the UED fleet to Tarsonis. His research team located the Psi Disrupter, a lost Confederate weapon capable of disrupting zerg communication.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Ruins of Tarsonis (in English). 1998. Duran advised that it be destroyed, and DuGalle concurred; if it was captured by the Dominion, it would jeopardize the UED's plan to enslave the Second Overmind. Stukov's dissenting opinion, to use the disrupter against the zerg, was overruled.Samir Duran: "I must humbly suggest to you, Admiral, that the Disrupter be destroyed as quickly as possible. If it should fall into the hands of the Dominion we could face some very serious problems." Gerard DuGalle: "Hmm. A prudent call, Lieutenant. I am inclined to agree." Alexei Stukov: "But Admiral, this device could insure our victory over the Zerg! It is foolhardy to discard such an advantage!" Samir Duran: "Surely, Vice Admiral, you don't doubt the tenacity of your own fleet? Your Directorate forces will devastate the Zerg without the need for such a device." Alexei Stukov: "Listen here, Lieutenant, I've had just about enough of your-" Gerard DuGalle: "This conversation is over, Alexei. Given the true nature of our mission to enslave the Overmind, we could hardly stand to have Mengsk control a device of this magnitude. This Psi Disrupter must be destroyed in order to safeguard our mission. Ensign, set your course for Tarsonis." StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Ruins of Tarsonis (in English). 1998. As Duran had shown such concern over the matter, DuGalle ordered him to personally secure the disrupter. Duran's strategy of destroying surrounding hives to render surrounding the zerg dormant was successful. Duran's preparations to demolish the disrupter were interrupted by the intervention of Stukov's ghosts, who had orders to relieve Duran and take over the weapon's disassembly. Duran did not challenge them. Duran participated in planning the UED assault on Korhal, the Dominion throne world. He suggested destroying a large cluster of missile silos on the outskirts of Augustgrad, the capital city, to disable the defender's core nuclear capabilities.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Assault on Korhal (in English). 1998. The UED subsequently captured Augustgrad. Emperor Mengsk escaped capture with the aid of Raynor's Raiders, and a small protoss fleet.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Emperor's Fall (in English). 1998. The Turncoat The UED pursued Mengsk and his rescuers to to Aiur, where the fugitives prepared to escape through the warp gate. The UED's quarry were entrenched in a large protoss base, surrounded by nesting, but apparently passive, zerg.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Emperor's Flight (in English). 1998. While one UED force struck for the gate and the fugitives, Stukov and Duran were assigned to guard the flanks and prevent potential interference by the zerg. As the main attack neared its objective, the warp gate activated and incited the zerg. Duran's forces were out of position as a large zerg force swept in from the northeast. He claimed not to detect the enemy force, and claimed communications difficulties prevented him from receiving Stukov's frantic warnings. The ensuing chaos allowed Jim Raynor and Mengsk to escape through the gate in a dropship. The gate subsequently self-destructed. Stukov took an unauthorized leave of absence to Braxis as the operation on Aiur concluded. DuGalle and Duran tracked him there and found the vice-admiral had secretly had the psi disrupter reassembled, in contravention of previous orders. Duran convinced Admiral DuGalle that Stukov was acting treacherously, and was authorized by the aggrieved admiral to find and execute the vice admiral. Duran and a marine strike force entered the disruptor and broke through the Stukov's Elite Guard to confront the vice admiral. Duran shot Stukov and disappeared'Duran:' "Vice Admiral Stukov, I am here under orders to terminate your command." Stukov: "Lieutenant Duran. I'm not surprised. We both know exactly what it is that you're here to terminate. Get on with it." Duran: "Say goodnight, Stukov." Stukov: "To hell with y- !" DuGalle: "Lieutenant Duran, report your situation immediately!" StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Patriot's Blood (in English). 1998. to activate the disruptor's self-destruct. A dying Stukov convinced DuGalle that the psi disruptor was critical to defeating the zerg and that Duran was the real traitor, and possibly infested. So alerted, the UED quickly shut down the self-destruct. Infestation Duran escaped to join the zerg. The UED used the disrupter to severely weaken the zerg and claim the second Overmind on Char. As the UED claimed victory, Duran appeared to introduce DuGalle to Sarah Kerrigan. He made no effort to hide his infested status.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: To Chain the Beast (in English). 1998. Kerrigan and Duran traveled to Tarsonis, where Duran interrupted a conversation between her, Raynor, and Fenix to inform Kerrigan that the psi disrupter's signal had reached them on Tarsonis and shattered the unity of her Broods.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Vile Disruption (in English). 1998. Aboard the Hyperion, in orbit around Moria, Duran and Kerrigan discussed whether Raynor, Fenix, and Mengsk suspected them of anything. Kerrigan said they must suspect something, but preferred working with her rather than with the UED.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Kel-Morian Combine (in English). 1998. The Swarm traveled to Korhal and assaulted the UED forces there along with Raynor's Raiders and Fenix's troops. After the main UED base was destroyed, Kerrigan decided to eradicate her allies. Duran suggested the strategy of attacking while her allies were resting, allowing them to whittle down their defenses with relative ease. The ploy was successful. After the destruction of Duke's and Fenix's bases, they returned to Tarsonis to rest.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: True Colors (in English). 1998. Two days later, the UED, intent on forcing Kerrigan's hand, tested out their control of the Overmind by sending hundreds of zerg to Tarsonis. As they began attacking their outposts, Duran informed her of the situation and rallied her forces. Kerrigan's forces secured their perimeter when Duran noticed a small UED encampment which protected a number of scientists. Kerrigan said the "scientists" were helping the UED command these Renegade Zerg at such a great distance from the Overmind; they had to be eliminated. Kerrigan's zerg took the fight to the UED Slave Brood hive clusters and the scientists, destroying them.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Fury of the Swarm (in English). 1998. Duran then accompanied Kerrigan to Shakuras to kidnap Raszagal. Kerrigan did not reveal her interest in Raszagal to Duran, however. Duran informed her that the pylon clusters were generating some sort of electromagnetic field that prevented their flyers from maneuvering. Duran suggested staging a diversion and claiming Raszagal during the confusion, namely causing a surge within the pylon clusters adjacent to the outpost of Talematros, causing it's power grids to overload. The resulting explosion will be the perfect cover for retrieving Raszagal. Kerrigan agreed, calling Duran's scheme "Clean, simple, devious." A cerebrate provided cover for Duran as he infiltrated the pylon clusters, set the charges, and ignited them.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Drawing of the Web (in English). 1998. Duran soon discovered that Raszagal was captured so as to provide Zeratul and his brethren the incentive to kill the new Overmind for them.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: To Slay the Beast (in English). 1998. After this was done, Duran informed Kerrigan that with the Overmind and its cerebrates destroyed, all of the zerg in the sector had reverted to her direct control. In addition, the remnants of the UED fleet had fled the planet (although he had no idea how many functional ships they still possessed), and the zerg had finished relocating Kerrigan's primary hive clusters to Char Aleph. However, Zeratul and his brethren were able to bypass their defenses and steal Raszagal away from them. They had regrouped with a number of protoss survivors on the surface of Char and would be capable of dimensional recall to Shakuras within thirty minutes. Kerrigan had all of her Broods mobilized and sent to the surface of Char.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Reckoning (in English). 1998. During this time, Duran had disappeared. The Mystery Deepens Duran traveled to a dark moon where he and a team of Clandestine Mercenaries worked on a protoss/zerg hybridization project at the behest of a "far higher power".StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Dark Origin (in English). 1998. Duran would refer to the hybrid as the "completion of a cycle, a reference to the life cycle of the xel'naga, in which the long-lived but not immortal race would regenerate itself by modifying two species with purity of form and essence to naturally over eons evolve into a new incarnation of the xel'naga. According to the preserver Zamara, however, Samir Duran's experiments are a "perversion", and if his attempts "unify" the species become successful, it will result in "a monstrous and powerful perversion of both protoss and zerg will be set loose upon the universe, and all that protoss and terran know and cherish will fall in their wake". Zeratul discovered the project when investigating the source of protoss energy signatures on the dark moon.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Dark Origin (in English). 1998. Duran himself uncloaked in front of a stasis cell holding a successful specimen and spoke to Zeratul.Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2008-04-16. The Story so Far... Part 2: The Brood War. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-04-16. From the manner in which Duran replied to Zeratul, claiming to be many millennia old (and having had many names over these millennia) and serving "a far greater power", Duran's background became even more enigmatic. Duran, referring to the hybrid, said it was a "completion of a cycle. Its role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young", Zeratul destroyed the creature and the facility.Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2010-7-27. Cast of Characters: Zeratul. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-7-27. Legacy During the years after the Brood War, Kerrigan learned something of Duran's activities.Chris Metzen, StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-07-20 July 20, 2009 Metzen Interview. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-09-07. His position as consort was briefly taken by Ethan Stewart.Golden, Christie (June 30, 2009). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #3: Twilight. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0-7434-7129-9. Game Unit |airattack=25 |armor=2 |range=6 |sight=11 |detect= |cooldown=22 |hero= |npc= |nocat=yes }} Samir Duran is represented by a terran ghost unit. He has all the basic ghost abilities and also carries his powerful canister rifle. |airattack=25 |armor=3 |range=6 |sight=11 |detect= |cooldown=22 |hero= |npc= |nocat=yes }} During the zerg campaign, Duran becomes represented in-game by a new unit, called Infested Duran. He has more hit points and a zerg carapace (although it's not very obvious). In addition, he possesses the zerg's ability to slowly regenerate health over time. He still uses a canister rifle, however, and the method by which his Consume ability functions is obviously a technological device, as it makes a "high-tech sound" (the same sound as Lockdown) when he consumes a zerg, somehow feeding its biological energy into the device. Furthermore, he retains the ability to cloak and cast Lockdown. His voice changes to that of an infested terran. He is also shown in the unit window as a color-coded wireframe identical to his previous form, making him the only zerg unit represented as such. Curiously, Infested Duran is the only unit to be upgraded with weapon and armor upgrades from separate factions: zerg Carapace upgrades will improve Duran's armor, but it is terran Infantry Weapons upgrades that improve the power of his weaponry. This makes him one of the most unique units in the game. Duran also has a unique death sound that is in the game data, but not implemented. Quotes : See: Samir Duran Quotations Notes *Kerrigan claims to have seen through Dr. Emil Narud's "pathetic" charade. His surname, spelled backward, is Duran.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, The Moebius Factor (in English). 2010-07-27. Blizzard writer Brian Kindregan confirmed there is a connection between them.Brian Kindregan, Eldorian. 2010-10-28. Blizzcon: Interview with StarCraft 2 Lead Writer Brian Kindregan. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2010-10-31. *Artwork depicts Duran is shown standing in front of a Sons of Korhal flag, but in both Brood War and I, Mengsk, it appears he never abandoned the Confederacy. *Duran's voice varies over the course of the campaign, (with obvious differences before and after his apparent infestation). *Duran's beret is the same color, and has the same insignia, as the ones worn by soldiers in the ARVN Airborne (South Vietnamese paratroopers) during the Vietnam War, according to IMDb.Trivia for StarCraft Expansion Set: Brood War (1998) (VG). IMDb. Accessed 2007-09-02. *Duran may possibly appear in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.2011-08-01, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Q&A With Dustin Browder. Gamespot, accessed on 2012-06-29 References Leader of Confederate Resistance Forces |2500 }} Special adviser to the UED |2500 }} Agent of Infested Kerrigan |2500 }} }} Duran, Samir Duran, Samir